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Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

People are weird.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

The revolution will be supervised.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

People are complicated. Love is not.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Another lawyer getting another plea deal

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88Comments

  6. 6.

    Barbara

    When your legal fees and odds of success are both trending in the wrong direction, it’s time to deal.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    I wonder how long it will take trump’s current lawyers to seek a plea deal for their crimes on his behalf.

  10. 10.

    Brit in Chicago

    Dominoes falling! And at a pretty brisk pace.

    Whom does her testimony most directly threaten

    ETA She was my pick for next after the Kraken and the cheese, but as for who’s likely to be next I have no idea. Any opinions? (It would be irresponsible not to speculate.)

  13. 13.

    hueyplong

    I had thought Ellis would go first, based on het support for DeSantis and the apparent negativity toward her by some cult members

  14. 14.

    Brit in Chicago

    @David Anderson: Hooray!

    Any chance that he’ll flip? I suppose he’d have to offer credible evidence against someone (hmm, I wonder who?), and perhaps he’s too much of a drunk for that. Something to be said for staying sober and taking notes of conversations: you have bargaining chips!

  15. 15.

    Suzanne

    LMAO, I wish I could post pictures. There’s a picture of Jenna Ellis on CNN’s main page right now that is cracking me up. LAWL.

  17. 17.

    E.

    I have been waiting for this one. I think this one is going to be good. A young, pretty, white woman who is not going to try to pull any shit (like I am confident Kraken lady will, who is far, far more culpable) and will be believable to a jury of imbeciles.

    I think she may have some receipts. I’m ready for her to get out of this with a couple years’ bar suspension and some serious probation. If she has the goods and uses them.

  19. 19.

    Barbara

    @hueyplong: While it might seem amusing to consider it in this light, I think that Sidney Powell quite likely has a better sense of what’s coming at her in terms of expense and outcome.  She has more experience.  Ken Cheseboro too.  Ellis is a mediocre attorney who is very young and might have more difficulty reading the handwriting on the wall.

  20. 20.

    Juju

    @TaMara: I did too. She’s a spurned Trump true believer with very little money at her disposal. She had no good choices, and she chose the best of those bad choices.

  21. 21.

    Betsy

    @Suzanne: I saw that.  She must have been trying to emulate TFG’s pig-butt lips when she was a follower and “her face stuck that way.”   Bit sorry to ugly-shame, but she’s ugly and deserves to be shamed.

    I’m in a foul mood.  Can you tell?!

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @Betsy: Not that her looks matter, but I don’t think Ellis is pretty.  She is young and blond but to me her face looks drawn, and not at all attractive.  not someone I would be drawn to talk to at a party, at all.

  25. 25.

    p.a.

    Assuming there is a future requirement to testify as a prosecution witness in these agreements if needed.

    Are these disbar-able offenses?

  27. 27.

    Ken

    @Brit in Chicago: Something to be said for staying sober and taking notes of conversations: you have bargaining chips!

    However you might get yelled at by Idris Elba. Though some might see that as a perq.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Apparently she’ll keep her law license. From the CNN article:

    In unrelated disciplinary proceedings in Colorado, where Ellis is a practicing attorney, Ellis admitted that many of her post-election public statements were false, including her claim that the race was “stolen” from Trump. She was censured by a judge and agreed to pay $224, ending the misconduct probe.

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    Watching a clip of Jenna wiping tears from her eyes as she reads her guilty plea. 🎻 Enlarged to show detail.

  31. 31.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Barbara:

    Ellis is a mediocre attorney who is very young and might have more difficulty reading the handwriting on the wall.

    She’s 38 years old. That’s two decades of being of adult age. In that time, she’s taken a law degree and developed a career as an attorney and a RW media personality. She knows better, yet she is being treated like a confused child. How in the fuck she’s retained her license is an indictment of the CO bar. Shame on them.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Meanwhile in NYC, trump’s legal team is suddenly deeply, deeply concerned about Covid, as Michael Cohen is set to testify today

    Lisa Rubin @lawofruby
    He accuses the AG of dispensing with health protocols because “nothing else matters, except pursuing President Trump.” And he says yet another member of the AG’s staff tested positive this morning. He says it is “hypocritical” for the AG to forge ahead while maintaining the health and safety of all New Yorkers is critical. 6/

    Alina Habba also stands, asking for a separate microphone. She does not want to use a “contaminated” mic, despite remaining unmasked. Relations are frayed: Solomon, visibly frustrated, notes the mic was provided by the AG’s office and they are free to bring their own.

  34. 34.

    catclub

    @Chief Oshkosh: She knows better, yet she is being treated like a confused child.

     

    Henry Hyde (of Hyde amendment fame) claimed that his adulterous affair, around the same age, maybe older, was a ‘youthful indiscretion’. Newt probably said that about his first three or four affairs.

  35. 35.

    Mike in NC

    Another one of Fat Bastard’s sleazy lawyers turns on him. He always wanted to find another Roy Cohn, his principal mentor, but nnnoooooooooooooooooo!

  36. 36.

    Suzanne

    @WaterGirl: She kind of has Instagram face, which looks gross to me at this point.

    I’m not proud of it, but I associate Insta face with a certain kind of “striver” social class. The kind of people who pretend to have a lot more money than they do.

  37. 37.

    Delk

    Snap into position, bounce ’til you ache, step out of line, and you end up in jail…

     

    edited for formatting

  38. 38.

    gene108

    Trump’s fault for not paying the legal bills for his co-defendants in the GA case. More are going to flip on him.

    He’s kept his co-conspirators mostly inline in the federal cases, and testimony before the J6 committee, by covering their legal bills.

    Pennywise and pound foolish.

  39. 39.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    There are so many clowns in the clown car that I can’t remember whose schtick is whose. She’s the one who does the tag-team routine with Giuliani where he farts and she makes funny faces, right?

  41. 41.

    Kay

    I’m not happy with the plea deals. I know you’re all going to say “big fish!” but these people are the main players and they really should get more than a misdemeanor.

    They’re all going to be back at it because apparently local bar associations never, ever find any ethical issues that merit sanctions. I was on a bar ethics committee for a decade and I swear we recommended sanctions from the state supreme court for much less grievous offenses than these people have committed.

    Trumpis going to be the nominee and when they lose they will refuse to accept it and try to overturn and we’re going to be seeing all these fucking people again. You have to excise the rot or it continues to spread.

  42. 42.

    CaseyL

    House Speaker race now down to 5 after three ballot rounds:

    Byron Donalds (FL)
    Tom Emmer (MN)
    Kevin Hern (OK)
    Mike Johnson (LA)
    Austin Scott (GA)

    …I don’t have a vote count, so I don’t know who’s gaining the most support as the list shortens.

    ETA: Apparently some reps are voting for “None of the Above.”  Does the “winner” need an outright majority, or just a majority of votes-for-current-candidates?

  45. 45.

    Ken

    @CaseyL: Apparently some reps are voting for “None of the Above.”

    Not a great sign for the eventual floor vote.

    Or maybe a great sign for the eventual floor vote, depending on both your point of view and preferred snarkiness.

  47. 47.

    stinger

    Among the 7 “false statements” Jenna Ellis admits to:

    • 10,000 dead people voted
    • 2,500 people voted who were not registered to vote
    • 1,000 people voted who were illegally registered with a P.O. box rather than a street address
    • 2,500 people voted illegally as felons

    Easy to see why TFG kept insisting that the “fellas” could find him 11,000 votes. Because of course all these illegal votes were for Biden, and throwing them out would have given TFG the win.

    Her alligator tears fail to move me AT ALL. Waaaahhh — other lawyers who were older and more experienced than me MADE ME DO IT.

  48. 48.

    Geminid

    @CaseyL: Another question is: will the”winner” actually win anything? Or will he be one more guy who gets to lose a Speaker vote on national TV.

  49. 49.

    PST

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    How in the fuck she’s retained her license is an indictment of the CO bar. Shame on them.

    At the time of the Colorado bar proceedings, Ellis had not yet been convicted of a felony. Now she has pleaded guilty to one. She admitted lying in public statements, but she did not, as far as I know, admit to lying under oath or to a court. She will face another round. My uninformed guess is that she will receive a suspension.

  51. 51.

    Anonymous At Work

    Ellis is big because she represents a SEPARATE arm from Kraken-Karen and Cheesy-Bro.  Ellis was involved in the coordinated conspiracy to present false statements of election fraud with Rudy.

    And she probably has an entire tranche of documents, some of which include Rudy, that are now fair game since the attorney-client privilege is gone.

  52. 52.

    Anonymous At Work

    @PST: As a practical matter, can she go back?  Suspended for a bit and then returns to traffic ticket law?  Who hires her?

  53. 53.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Mike in NC: He always wanted to find another Roy Cohn, …

    The combination of Rudy and Roger Stone probably added up to it at one time. How the mighty have fallen.

  55. 55.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: Does anyone really believe that the answer to that question isn’t: “No, the ‘winner’ won’t win anything, perhaps not even a chance to lose a Speaker vote on national TV”?

    They’re going through the motions of the process they used to have, which is irrelevant because the only thing everyone now agrees on is that caucus votes are non-binding and consensus building is for Democrats. They don’t know what else to do, and they’re too lazy and unimaginative (and leaderless) to figure out another way.

  56. 56.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    TPM live blog heading: Dems Find Emmer To Be The Least Objectionable

    Well that’s the end of him. /s

  57. 57.

    Geminid

    @sdhays: Those Republicans might be able to pull it off. They’re under a lot of pressure to “git ‘er done.” If they don’t, they are liable to see the House reorganized in a way that could marginalize them as a caucus.

    So maybe collective self-interest will bring enough unity. It certainly should, but some of those Freedom Caucus choads are in effect, nihilists.

  60. 60.

    TS

    McCarthy still blaming the Democrats for the stupidity of his party

    McCarthy on how the last few weeks reflects on GOP. “Very, very poorly. From every aspect, and it’s frustrating because it’s just a few these eight, working with all the Democrats to ruin the reputation of the Republicans but we’ll earn it back. There has to be consequences.”

    Count at dailykos – they are getting it from a twitter feed

    THIRD BALLOT — Emmer- 100 Johnson- 43 Donalds- 32 Hern- 26 Scott- 12 Other- 3 Present-

    https://twitter.com/JakeSherman

  65. 65.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: Personally, I don’t think they’ll believe that’s a real threat until it’s too late. Just like they didn’t believe the “moderates” would develop a spine over Gymmy the Jordan.

    These aren’t people who adapt well to changing input data.

  66. 66.

    sdhays

    @TS: Yes. Because it’s the Democrats responsibility to preserve the reputation of the Republicans.

    ETA: The reason the Republicans shouldn’t go back to McQarthy is that he is really, really stupid and incapable of hiding it. I don’t really understand why anyone in his caucus (Matt Gaetz) was surprised he was bad at negotiating after seeing how he gave everything away to become Speaker.

  67. 67.

    smith

    @JPL: I agree. We’ve gone from letting them plead to misdemeanors  to requiring them to plead to felonies. I think we should now be past the phase where flippers can get off on probation, and should now be required to accept jail time.  But, D.A. Willis certainly knows how to make this work, so I guess we should trust that she will maximize her advantage.

  68. 68.

    Ken

    Regarding the other legal news, Teri Kanefield has a rundown of last night’s Trump team filings in the DOJ J6 case.  TL;DR: Chuckles with a few guffaws, no chance of any of these working.

    She does note that defendants are given a lot of leeway with pre-trial motions; laughable isn’t a problem, though misrepresenting facts would be.

  69. 69.

    Jackie

    @twbrandt:

    $224. Wow, that’ll teach her!

    I don’t care about the fine amount – she’s broke. I DO CARE that she’s throwing TIFG and Rudy under the bus – making sure as many tires as possible run over them as possible!

  70. 70.

    Juju

    @Chief Oshkosh: Calling her mediocre is being kind. She was fired from her deputy DA job after six months. She’s lied about and exaggerated her legal experience. I don’t remember all the details and I don’t really care to look it up.  I am surprised to find out she is 38.  She doesn’t seem that mature. I think that’s why people seem to treat her like a confused child.

  71. 71.

    Ken

    @TS: In his favor (though only slightly), at least McCarthy’s only complaining about his ouster vote. The Republicans and pundits who are saying the Democrats should support a Republican speaker candidate are the ones really out in la-la land.

  72. 72.

    Manyakitty

    @JPL: ,@Kay: 

    I suspect the Kraken got the misdemeanor deal. Hoping it’s all felonies, all the way down for the rest of the lawyers. Bring on prison time, too.

  73. 73.

    Barbara

    @Chief Oshkosh: It’s not a question of chronological age. She might be even two decades older but her legal experience is what we might call light.  She has never really been a practicing attorney in anything remotely like this.  She is more like to have thought that some kind of magic would happen to get her out of trouble here.  Which is how a lot of professionals think in situations like this.

  74. 74.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Calling her mediocre is being kind. She was fired from her deputy DA job after six months. She’s lied about and exaggerated her legal experience.

    The GOP doesn’t care about competence, only loyalty.

  75. 75.

    Geminid

    @sdhays: I’m not sure who you mean by “They.” But regardless of who you mean, I give these Republican Representatives, or at least some of them, some credit for drawing realistic conclusions. I don think it was a surprise that the anti-Jordan crowd held their position on later votes. Some were among the more powerful House members, and these said publically that Jordan could not change their vote. Also, I think thre were other anti-Jordon members who voted for him as a tactical move: they knew he wouldn’t win, and wanted to keep from polarizing the caucus more than it was already.

    And I don’t think the current crackup surprised many. It was a predictable outcome back in January when McCarthy assented to the rule allowing one member to move to vacate the Chair. The more centrist members who stuck to McCarthy like glue could only hope to postpone the crisis, but they saw it coming I think.

  76. 76.

    E.

    @Kay: I’m with you wanting actual blood from these traitorous wretches but Cheesebro and Ellis I’m okay with taking a plea if they give up the goods. I don’t really think Ellis can keep her law license and yeah she might be back but after turning on Trump, hmmm, maybe not. And she is going to be in fear of her life in precisely the same way her victims were, which is not an objectively a good thing but satisfies the evil goblin who sits on my shoulder and demands revenge. I think I may be done with my generous thoughts though — I want the rest of them to die in prison for trying to wreck my beloved country, especially Eastman, Clark, and of course the main GA inmates.

  77. 77.

    smith

    Then there were two — the House GQP vote for Speaker is down to Emmer and Johnson, with just one vote between them

    ETA: Correction — they will be only one vote apart if Johnson picks up the hardline votes against Emmer.

  78. 78.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Kay: Eastman hasn’t rolled on TFG; Ellis just did.  The Grifters will want an attorney that takes the blame in exchange for future employment, and she decided not to do so.

    Or, is the Grift-Machine on the Right financing Anthony Gonzalez or Liz Cheney?

    So, what’s in her future, assuming she keeps her Bar license?

  79. 79.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: It was reportedly a surprise to the Jordan crowd. As for “they”, the group changes here and there, but there’s a hard-right faction who think they can make the rest of the caucus bend to their will. What pound of flesh are they going to extract from the next Speaker candidate, who won’t have all the money backing him that McQarthy had?

    I mean, Emmer is leading, but Trump doesn’t like him, so how does he get to 217? Sure, Trump has been less of factor than one might have expected, but it only takes 5 to say they won’t support him because of Trump (and there are at least 5 nihilist grandstanders happy to take that job, I would think) and then we’re back to nowhere.

  80. 80.

    E.

    @E.: Oh hell I just listened to her “apology.” (I only made it through the first half.) I hereby rescind and denounce my embarrassing and ignorant comments above. She deserves prison. I sit chastened and embarrassed.

  82. 82.

    smith

    @E.: I watched it too, and any sympathy I might have had evaporated. Apparently, she was just a poor trusting lil babe in the woods who was wickedly misled by a bunch of conniving shysters. The commentary on Meidas Touch, though, was that this tack will help Willis with her prosecution of the higher-ups because it will make it harder for the defense to impeach the truthfulness of Ellis’ testimony.

  83. 83.

    Shalimar

    @David Anderson: If I were a D.A., I wouldn’t offer a cooperation agreement to Rudy.  He’s as narcissistic as Trump, which means his testimony will be drunken, erratic, self-serving bullshit that will not hold up under cross-examination.  Yes, he has the most to offer outside of Meadows, but you can’t trust what Rudy says.

  86. 86.

    ETtheLibrarian

    Has she been disbarred, because that should also be something that happens to any of these lawyers that are convicted or plead out.

  87. 87.

    Betsy

    @Chief Oshkosh: Exactly, conservaturds can do whatever they want and get a free pass for “youthful indiscretion” well into their 40s.  See, for example, Senator Mark Sanford.

    I do blame it on fundagelical “Christianity” (sic), because one of the core tenets is that you sin and sin and sin, and sin some more, but if you are washed in the blood of the Lamb, according to them, it’s all OK, so there is never any need to be kind or responsible.

    With apologies and exceptions to real Christians; we* all know some who truly try to follow Christ’s example.

    *(except one pied commenter)

  88. 88.

    RSA

    @twbrandt:  $224. Wow, that’ll teach her!

    From CNN:

    After Ellis’ indictment, she publicly complained about the lack of financial support from pro-Trump groups. She has raised more than $216,000 through an online crowdfunding website.

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